The year was 2008, and the ever going saga of completing filming for Fun Boots! was constantly upon our hearts in Orlando. We had made several trips already to a couple of different cities throughout the more southern parts of the sunshine state, and we needed to go back and continue the shredding. Why not just do it all in one epic journey? The stage was set and we started making some phone calls. First of all was Keith Lant, the one and only partner in crime at Scene One. Unfortunately he had work and was unable to take off for so long and with such short notice. Luckily though, Ben Horan was home in Georgia and was immediately interested in the trip, which we decided would be to go from Orlando to Fort Lauderdale, across the state to Fort Myers, then up north towards Anna Maria Island and St. Petersburg. We had our eyes set for winch gaps galore. Ben pretty much hung up the phone and started driving towards Orlando. We had a winch to pull us, a hefty truck to get us around, and three video cameras. Not to mention a big comfy chair I found on the side of the road. That bad boy made the whole journey with us, giving us a great seat to lounge in at winch spots and a nice cushion in the bed of the truck when things got to crowded up front. I gave Roland Lugo a call to come make some photographic magic happen, and he was immediately on board. Boom! We loaded up the truck and got on our way the next day when Ben got in town.

We set our sights to Lauderdale for the intro to this fun little Florida tour. We had been there for a weekend of winching a few months prior, and definitely knew there was more to be done. Our host and local winch spot guide was your very own Bro Support spotlight, Benjamin Grasso. We got up early the first day and hit a spot we call “the skatepark” because there are at least four different ways to get tricks at this spot. Ben started getting pretty techy pretty fast and landing stuff first try at the drop. A surprise guest appearance by Ben Caruso put a smile on everyone’s faces, and he was the only one to step up and link up an ollie over the V part of the gap into an ollie down the gap. An unfortunate series of events soon unfolded as Horan slipped out from a frontside flip. The rope slung around the winch and sent the handle flying towards Grasso’s face. Luckily for Grasso my camera protected his face and the handle ricocheted off my lens hood. We decided that was about the cue for us to pack up. The focus ring and lens plate both were gone off my camera into the water, and the lens hood got blasted off but was recovered. Miraculously, the camera was still completely operable and the lens wasn’t even scratched.

After some disappointments at the low water levels at a couple spots, we came across a fun little cement ledge behind this apartment complex. We got waxing that bad boy and soon enough started enjoying a session in these people’s backyards. The crew we had was perfect; we were friends more than anything and pretty much enjoyed entertaining ourselves with the littlest things between filming. And we ate ice cream every day, the whole trip.

Cruising through Fort Lauderdale on a “possible gap” lead we got from one of Grasso’s buddies, we stumbled upon an absolute monster of a gap, with a head high bridge going directly over the take off. Only Drew was man enough (and a little shorter than Ben) to tackle this beast. Of course, he conquered.

That was all she wrote for our time in Ft. Laudy. She has been good to us, that’s for sure. Something that I noticed by the time we were in the midst of our time here was that we all started to dawn on a new sense of opportunities at these gaps. It’s not just about getting down them that counts these days. Keep your eyes and your mind open and you never know how you might end up managing your next friendly neighborhood winch spot.

Part II coming soon! See what happens to the team while we venture across Alligator Alley and into the deadly grasps of Fort Myers, then on into paradise with Nick Taylor to lock into some sunny rail park lines.